


A Mother's Love

by Atsurekino_Kurome



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Mother-Son Relationship, portrait point of view
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-03
Updated: 2015-03-03
Packaged: 2018-03-16 05:16:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3475850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Atsurekino_Kurome/pseuds/Atsurekino_Kurome
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A mother will do anything to see her child happy. She will give up anything to make sure her child lives a good life. She will sacrifice the world if only to make sure her child lives. Even if it mean pushing him away and making him hate her. Walburga Black was one such mother.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Mother's Love

**Author's Note:**

> I've played with this idea several times. I originally had the idea for my Betrayer series. Both ideas were inspired by the first two stanzas of the song Waterfalls by TLC. Who is to say that Walburga Black didn't love her son? While many of us would never think to treat our children the way she treated Sirius, what if she saw it as the only way for him to have a better life? And if this is true, what was she thinking as she did all of this?
> 
> This story is by no means anything but my own.
> 
> J.K. owns everything but this story idea.

To the world Walburga Black was a cold, cruel, and cunning woman. She was a Black and a Slytherin after all. They saw a woman who hated muggles and muggleborns, believing they were beneath her. They believed that she felt that muggleborns had no place in their world. They saw a woman who felt disdain for her eldest and his constant rebelling. But it was so much more than that. She had known from the time Sirius was young that he was different from the rest of her family. He was always questioning why things were done the way they were.

_Why did we dislike muggleborns?_

_Why do we call them mudbloods?_

_Why do we treat others the way we do?_

_Why must we practice dark magic like we do?_

_Why can’t we practice all magic?_

_Isn’t magic simply magic?_

She wasn’t blind; she saw the small frown that Sirius always wore when in public. It had nothing to do with being a perfect pureblood heir and everything to do with disliking how they treated others and how they were treated in return. She saw the way he would look longingly at the other children as they ran about Diagon Alley wild and free.

She knew from the day he had first started asking his questions that he would never make it in Slytherin. Oh her son was clever, he was devious and cunning and he had a vicious streak that would make any Slytherin proud. But he also had a kind heart, and was loyal to a fault. He had a tendency to act without thinking and his temper was a malicious thing when roused. He would never follow anyone who wanted to control him. And she feared that if he stayed he would wither away, because he was a free spirit that needed space to fly. Being Lord Black would sap every ounce of creativity and happiness out of him. She didn’t even want to think about what the Dark Lord would do to him.

He was so different from her youngest son. Regulus was quite and thoughtful, cunning and cruel. And though he also cast longing looks at children they saw, he looked upon them with the same sneer of disdain that she and their father did. He was the perfect Slytherin child. Her sons were close, close enough that she hoped that Sirius would influence Regulus into thinking for himself. Unfortunately it did not happen; she knew the same way that she knew with Sirius that her youngest would unfortunately follow the opposite path of her eldest.

Especially when Sirius was sorted into Gryffindor.

She had hoped with all her heart that he would be sorted into a different house than Slytherin… but she had never expected Gryffindor. True Sirius was not the Ravenclaw type… he did not have that kind of thirst for knowledge. Nor had she expected him to strike up such a close relationship with the Potter heir. And while she had always expected him to walk a different path, one similar to Andromeda’s and even Dorea’s, she had hoped that he would stay close enough that she would never have to fear for his life.

 She had always treated Sirius with scorn because of his differences. It had been her hope that her treatment of him would push him into the better life that she knew he could have. But once he was sorted and the scorn from the rest of the family obvious, she knew exactly what she had to do. It was the only way to make sure that her son had the life he deserved. She had seen the look Regulus had when the news had come. He had been so upset and angry at his brother for abandoning him. So she made the first step of her terrible decision; she informed him that since his brother had dishonored the family it was up to him to bring that honor back.

As the years wore on, she could see more and more that things were going to end in an explosive way. Sirius pushed more and more against them and their ways. He began sneering at them in the same way they sneered at muggleborns. He defended the muggleborns with a passion that made her proud, but at the same time she feared for his life. Though her son was in no way dark, the light was not the place for him either. The light could be just as cruel as the dark. Those who fought against the Dark Lord looked upon their family with disgust and she knew that they looked at her son the same way. He just willfully ignored it and set about to prove them wrong.

Everything came to a head when he was sixteen. She hadn’t wanted to hurt him, but the Dark Lord was looking to add another Black to his ranks. In a moment of panic she did the only thing she could… to her everlasting shame she cursed him. She cast a crucio on her son… her child. The pain in his eyes almost killed her. The look of utter devastation and hatred that he gave her had her wanting to take everything back and explain it all to him. But she couldn’t.

It hurt her so much to blast his name off the tapestry and disown him. And the disappointment she saw when her Aunt Dorea called later that night made her feel even worse. Though she suspected by the end of their conversation the other woman knew what she had done.

 Then the time for Regulus to make his own way in the world. She prayed with all her heart that he would have the strength to stand up and say no like his brother did. She prayed that he would use his cunning to get out of being a Death Eater. But it was all for naught. His friends, even young Barty Crouch had all taken the mark. She had lost both of her sons. Both of them to men that felt they had the right to control the world. Chess masters that used those beneath them as pawns in a never ending game.

Disaster struck not even a year after Regulus left Hogwarts.

Her youngest, her wonderful Regulus died. She had been listening when the Dark Lord had come for Kreacher. She had heard their discussion and the discussion the elf had with Regulus when he came back delirious. And like her son she had realized right away what the despicable man had done. He had created a horcrux… and from the sound of it he had more than one. And her boy… oh her brave boy had shown his true self in that moment. He had risen up and had put a kink in the Dark Lord’s plans. She had tried to help the elf destroy the locket, but she was getting old and the famous Black insanity was setting in.

Then just when things were truly getting bad for their world, the Potter heir had stopped the Dark Lord. How the child did it, no one knows. But the sacrifice was great; Lord and Lady Potter were gone. To make matters worse the world was blaming her son. Her Sirius had been accused of murdering twelve muggles and one of his friends. The same friend accused him of betraying the Potter’s before being viciously killed.

Sirius would never do that. Never! She didn’t believe it for one second. Sirius who had fought so hard to prove he was nothing like the rest of them. Sirius who questioned everything they did. Sirius who despite the fear and prejudice against them befriended a werewolf (yes she knew about the Lupin boy). Sirius who had looked so happy and content whenever she saw him. Sirius who glowed with joy whenever speaking of the small boy who had been named his godson. He would never betray those he saw as family.

It was that last bit of news that caused what was left of her sanity to vanish. Before that though, she managed to sign every last bit of their money and property back over to him. Though she claimed it was because he had finally done the right thing, it was her way of trying to apologize. She had wanted to write him a letter explaining her actions, but unfortunately she passed before she could do so. And when he appeared in the doorway of their home again to use their house as the headquarters for Dumbledore’s Order of the Phoenix she had nearly cried. Cried with joy at seeing him again, and with anguish and pain at the haunted look in his eyes.

He was so emaciated, and tired. But she could also see the spark of happiness in his eyes. Though he looked at her with derision he explained that the Order would be using the house and that his godson would be staying with them. Whenever he spoke of the boy his face would light up and his eyes would clear, and she could see the old Sirius again. It was however not to be. Dumbledore came in and destroyed what little hope her son had. The small bit of sanity that her son was holding on to was destroyed. And when the boy finally did come he was sullen and withdrawn himself. The interactions between them were awkward and stilted. They loved each other that much was clear, but they were also using each other. Sirius used the boy as a way to remember a lost brother, and Harry as a way to close to his lost father.

It did not help that the Order did what they could to keep both of the apart. She was sure that if they had left well enough alone that Harry’s presence would have healed her son’s psyche. If they would just bother to _help_ her son by getting him a mind healer. But they didn’t. They yelled at him, they sneered at him and they treated him as if he were trash. If she could have she would have cursed them all for daring to treat her son that way. Especially the Weasley woman and Severus Snape. So she screamed and yelled at them. She treated them exactly as they treated her son.

The look of pain on her son’s face as he sat there night after night waiting for his godson to contact him tore at her heart. His devastation when the boy angrily confronted him about the memories he had seen made her want to reach out to him and hold him. She heard the boy’s frantic calls for Sirius, and wanted so badly to find her son. But she didn’t. And oh how she wished she did now. But she knew that he was better off where he was now. He suffered in those last days of his life. Forced to stay in a place that had nothing but bad memories to him day in and day out. No one bothered to help him when he truly needed it, treating him as if he were worthless. He was better off in death so he could be with those he loved.

Several more years passed and Harry Potter and his friends came back, on the run from the Dark Lord. She wanted to tell them everything, but she held back. She didn’t miss the looks the young Potter cast her way. And she could see it in his eyes that he blamed himself for everything that was happening. Then they quickly left and once again she was left alone.

Then the years passed and the boy came back. This time he had a family with him. He had married the youngest Weasley and had named their first born after his own father and Sirius. In that small child she could see her own. The way his eyes glinted with mischief, and his crooked smile that said he was up to no good. She knew without a doubt that her son had finally gotten the family that he deserved.

Walburga Black was a cold, cruel, and cunning woman. But she loved her sons with all of her heart.


End file.
